Spinning yarn from flax, cotton, &amp;c.



' No. 815,623 PATBNTED MAR. 20, 1906.

. A. MOMEEKIN. SPINNING YARN FROM FLA'X, COTTON, 8m.

APPLICATION FILED MAR=21,1904.

3 SHEETSSHEET l Witnesses. v 'I Ihventor am W JNO. 815,623.

, PATBNTED MAR. 20, .1906; v A.M0MVEEKI'N. SPINNING YARN FROM FLAX, COTTON, 8w.

APPLICATION FILED MAB..'21', 1904.

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Inventor T Witnesses.

PATENTED MAR. 20, 1906.

' 4. MQMEEKIN.

SPINNING YARN FROM FLAX, COTTON, 6w.

: APPLICATION III-ED MAR.21.1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET ,3-

fhrenlbfx: ZZZQH jiiceitin UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE...

ADAM McMEEKIN, on DOAGH, IRELAND.

- SPINNING YARN FROM FLAX .COTTONQtSoG- To all whom it. may concern:

Be it known that I, ADAM McMEEKIN, a subject of the King ofGreat Britain, residing at Cogry Mills, Doagh, county of Antrim, 5 Ireland, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Spinning Yarn from Flax, Cotton, or other Fibers and in the Machinery for the Same, of which the following is a specification. r0 My invention relates to improvements in spinning-machines. One of the well-known methods of reducing rove to yarn is to provide adjacent pairs of coacting rollers between which the mate rial is passed and driving the rollers at an unequal rate of speed. The rove is first fed to a pair of rollers driven at a relatively .slow speed, called retaining-rollers, and from thence to a pair of rollers drivenat a relatively higher speed,'which are called drawing rollers. By this means the rove is I stretched in the direction of its length, thereby reducing its size, the same being delivered from the drawing-roller as yarn. The difference in speed of the pairs of rollers whereby various sizes of yarn are produced is called draft. If a considerable amount of draftis employed, or, in other words, if there is a great variance of the speed between the retaining and drawing rollers, the yarn produced will be of a relatively small size, whereas if a very slight draft is employed the decrease in size from the rove to the yarn will be correspondingly less. Heretofore the dif i ally unequal size. 'The difficulty, however,

n using yarn of this nature has been to secure a prescribed distribution of the lumpy parts in the goods. The lumps 1n yarn of this nature belng irregularin size and spaced apart unequal distances very often make up into goods wherein the lumps appear in 5 5 "groups, leaving interveninglengths of smooth Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed March 21, 1904. Serial No. 199,101.

ference in s eed of the pairs of rollers after shown in' 1.

-of Fig. 1.

Patented March 20, 1906. 7

. surface. While it is not always desirable in H these novelty goods to have an absolutelyuniform distribution of the lumps in the yarn, it is highly desirable to have a general distribution, and in some cases it is desirable .to have the lumps evenly and uniformly distributed throughout the goods. Furthermore, it is desirable in some classes of goods I to have the lumpy or unevensurfaces somewhat prominent, necessitating correspondingly great inequalities in the yarn, whereas if it is desired that the lumps in the goods should not be prominent the irregularities of the yarnmust be correspondingly less.

The object of the presentinvention is'to 7o providea drafting mechanism'for reducing rove to yarn wherein the lumps or irregu larities may not only be spaced apart at pre- I scribed and definite distances throughout the length of-the yarn, but may be'accurately regulated as to size.

My invention, therefore, consists in the provision of a drafting mechanism for reducing rove to yarn comprising separate pairs of coacting retaining and drawing rollers, between which the material passes, mechanism for constantly'driving said pair of rollers at uniformly unequal speeds, and an auxiliary mechanism whereby the speed of one pair of rollers may be intermittently changed. 8 5 1 My invention will bemore fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings .and will be more particularly pointed out in the a pended claims.

In the fiawings, Figure 1 represents in 0 side elevation one of the end frame members of a spinnin or spooling machine, showin mechanism or drivin the draftin rollers. Fig. 2 is a view in e evation of t e parts Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow 3. Fig. 4 is an end elevation looking in the directlon of arrow 4 Fig. 5 is an end elevation of a spooling machine, showing the drafting 10o mechanism in full lines and the manner-in which the rove travels therethrough from the bobbins and is discharged in the form of yarn. 5

/ I Like characters of reference designate simi- 10 5 lar partsthroughout the different figures of the drawings.

. I will describe the application of the device of my invention to a double spinning or spooling'machine having complete drafting no mechanisms on either side thereof and wherein a single auxiliary driving mechanism is employed for operating the same.

Referring more especially to Figs. 1, 2-, 8, and 4, there is shown a main driving-shaft a, provided with a gear-pinion b. A pinion c, mounted on a stud d, is provided, which meshes with pinoin b and transmits motion to pinion e. A camgearf, mounted on shaft f meshes with pinion e. The speed of the pinion f may be regulated by using different sized pinions in the place of those marked 1) and c. A cam g is provided which is rotated by the pinion f and actuates a pair of acceler ating-arms h it, having their adjacent ends slotted at W. Said arms are slidably mounted on shaft f which carries a nut j, serving to hold said arms in operating proximity to the cam g. A spring 7c is connected at its opposite ends to the arms h h to maintain the cam-rollers 'L t at all times in engagement with the periphery of the cam g. The outer ends of said arms h h are connected with and operate auxiliary speed-accelerating mechanism, which in the preferred embodiment consists of the following parts: The parts of said mechanism are designated by similar characters of reference and are similar in all respects. Therefore I will describe only one of the same. Upon shaft m is rigidly mounted a driving ratchet-pinion w, which is driven by means of a loosely-mounted pinion 1), carryiing spring-actuated ratchet-pawls 19, englaging said ratchet-wheel w. Said pinion 1) rives the pinion to positively in one direction, the pawls p permittingthe speed of said ratchet-pinion w to be intermittently increased. Said pinion p is constantly driven through the medium of a reducing train of gears consisting of pinions q and r, mounted on stud 7", which are driven by a pinion s, mounted on a constantly-driven shaft 15. The stud r is adjustable horizontally to permit substitution of various-sized pinions r and (1 when it is desired to secure variance of speed between the pairs of drafting-rollers. The gearing just described imparts to the retaining and drawing rollers, respectively, rela tively low and high speeds, the drawing-rollers being driven from shaft t, while the retaining-rollers are driven from shaft m. I will now describe the means whereby the speed of the ratchet-pinion w is momentarily accelerated. A ratchet-pinion 0 is provided, which is rigidly mounted on shaft m. A rocking arm Z, of U-shaped construction, carries at its outer end a pawl a, adapted for engagement with the ratchet-wheel 0, which is held in engagement with said wheel by a s ring n. Arms h h are pivotally secured at t eir outer ends to the arms Z.

The operation of the driving mechanism thus far described is as follows: The shafts m are constantly driven through the medium of the trains of gear above described. When the cam g rotates, the arms h 72/ will be alternately reciprocated in o )posite directions by engagement of the rolfers i with the cam proper, g g. When, for instance, the arm It is moved outwardly to the left, it will cause a correspondingly-outward movement of the rocking arm Z, thereby effecting a sudden contra-clockwise movement of ratchet-pinion 0. This sudden rotation of the pinion 0 is communicated directly to the shaft 111, resulting in a momentary acceleration of pinion to beyond the speed at which it is constantly driven by pinion p and pawls 7). This momentary acceleration is permitted by the spring-pressed ratchet-pawls p, which slide over the teeth of the pinion w when the arm Z is being swung outwardly on its mounting.

I will next refer to the reducing or drafting mechanism operated by the driving mechanism just described, the same being preferably of the following construction, Fig. 5: On shaft m is mounted one of the retainingrollers M, said rollers being held tightly in contact. Immediately below the rollers M are mounted the drawing-rollers T, which are held in contact with each other, one of said rollers being mounted on the constantlydriven shaft t. The said rollers M are positively driven at a constant speed, which is relatively less than the speed of the rollers T. The material from the bobbins X travels downwardly in the direction of the arrow and passes between the rollers M. From thence it passes between rollers T and is received upon a rotating bobbin Z, positively driven through the medium of a belt 2, trained about wheels .2 2 It will be obvious that as the surface travel of the rollers M is less than the travel of the rollers T and as each pair of rollers is constantly driven the material passing therebetween will be drawn or stretched. in accordance with the difference in speed of the respective rollers. If the rollers T are driven at a greatly-increased rate of speed with respect to the rollers M, the draft or stretch to which the material is subjected will be correspondingly increased and the yarn delivered from the rollers T will be relatively reduced in size with respect to the rove which is delivered to the rollers M, and vice versa. It will therefore be apparent that if the respective retaining and drawing rollers are driven at an unequal and constant speed the yarn will be substantially uniform in size throughout its length, whereas if the difference of speed between the two sets of rollers is not maintained there will be a consequent lack of uniformity in the yarn produced. If the speed of the retaining-rollers is momentarily accelerated, the stretch or draft between the retaining and drawing rollers will be temporarily lessened, and to this extent an enlargement or lump will be formed in the yarn which at that time is passing from the retainimpart to the ro ing to the drawing rollers. It will further be obvious that the size of the lump or enlarge ment formed in the yarn will be entirely dependent upon the de ee of acceleration imparted to the rollers and to the length of intervals of time elapsing between said accelerations. In order to vary-the diameter of enlargements or lumps formed in the yarn, the length of-stroke of the arm I may be varied by elon ating the supporting member 10 by means the slotted connection 19 By this arrangement the pawl u will pass over one or more teeth of the ratchet-wheel 0 at the beginning of its movement before eflecting engagement. If it is desired to increase the length of the lump or enlargement, the cam 9 may be su ported by one which will (is h h a relatively 'reater movement, maintaining the same spee acceleration. 1 I

While I have herein shown and described a single embodiment-of my improved device, I'

. struction shown, as the same may be materially altered without departing fromthe spirit of the invention.

Therefore what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination in a s inning-frame of a retaining-roller, means for drivin the roller at the ordinary speed and means or periodically accelerating the speed of the roller so as to form lumps or spots in the yarn.

2. The combination,'in a spinnin -frame, of a retaining-roller, a'ratchet-wheel or driving the roller, a pawl gearing with the ratchet, a lever carrying the pawl, an arm connected with the lever and having a slot at its end which works on'a pin, a roller secured to the arm, a cam acting on the roller, and toothed gearing for rotatlng the cam, said toothed gearing being operated from the cylinderaXle a of the machine, substantially as described.

3. The combination, in a spinning-frame, of a retaining-roller, a free wheel on the axle of the roller, a ratchet-wheel on'the axleof the roller, pawls on the free wheel, means for driving the free wheel, a second ratchetwheel for driving theroller, a pawl gearing With the ratchet-wheel,- a lever carrying the pawl, an arm connected with the lever, means for moving the arm for-ward intermittently and means for retracting the arm after each- .forward movement,

substantially as described.

4. The combination in a spinnin -frame, of two retaining-rollers, free wheel an ratchet mechanism for driving the rollers, ratchetwheels for driving the rollers, pawls gearing with the ratchet-wheels, rocking levers carrying the pawls, slotted arms connected with for operating both arms, a spring acting on the levers, a pin fixed to the frame of the machine and projecting through the slots, a cam 5 both arms, and means for drivingv the cam, substantially as described. I

5. A drafting device for spinning-machines comprising a pair of coacting retaining-rollers and a pair of coacting drawing-rollers between which the material to be drawn is passed, mechanism for constantly driving the respective pairs of rollers at unequal rates of speed, and auxiliary means for intermittently acceleratin the speed of the retaining-rollers. 6. A draf ting device for spinning-machines comprising a pair of coactlngretaining-rollers anda pair of coacting drawing-rollers between which the material to be drawn is passed, mechanism for constantly driving the respective (pairs of rollers at unequal rates ofv speed, .an auxiliary means .for intermittently changing .the speed of one pair of rollers. 4

7. Adrafting device for spinning-machines comprising a pair of coacting retaining-rollers and a pair of coacting drawing-rollers betweenwhich the material to be drawn is. passed, one of said retaining-rollers having, two ratchet-wheels rigidly mounted, and a 0 gear-pinion loosely mounted, ratchet-pawls connectin said pinion and one of said ratchet-w eels, means for constantly driving saidgearinion, and means engaging the other ratcl fet-wheel for intermittently accelerating the s eedof said retaining-rollers.

8. A drafting device for spinning-machines comprising a pair of coating reta'inin -rollers and a pair of coacting drawing-r01 ers between which the material to be drawn is passed, means for constantly driving one of said retaining-rollers at a given speed, and means for intermittently increasing the speed thereof. i V

9. A'drafting device for spinning-machines comprising a pair of coacting retaining-rollers and a pair of coacting drawing-rollers between which the' material to be drawn is passed, one of said retaining-rollers having 7 two ratchet-wheels rigidly mounted and a no pinion loosely mounted, ratchet-pawls connecting said pinion and one of sa1d ratchet- March, 1904.

. ADAM MOMEEKIN. .Witness'es:

I JAS. A. WEIR, NORA MOORE 

